Garden of Aconite
by AconiteWarrior
Summary: The Pale One awakens from his slumber. His army stalks the corridors of Azkaban. The legion of Werewolves howl their war cry to the luminous moon. The One-Who-Flees-Death shall find them snarling and clawing for his tattered soul. One who chains his hatred shall lead with the one who brings lightning from the skies. Absolution is nigh, and the world will tremble at their call.


_**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.**_

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A small, raven haired boy was jerked awake by a furious knocking on his cupboard door, followed by a harsh screeching.

"Boy! Get up now! Make us breakfast you ungrateful whelp!"

Said boy cursed silently as he put on his heavily taped glasses, before opening his now unlocked cupboard door. The early morning light glinted of his glasses, almost blinding him for a moment. He quickly went to the kitchen, aware of his aunt's glare trying to drill a hole in the back of his head. He set about getting all the things ready and hurriedly started making breakfast for the Dursleys when he heard his whale of a cousin stomping heavily down the stairs. Since Dudley was a slow goer in walking Harry had plenty of time to finish everything and set it all up on the table. Vernon, Petunia, and Dudley suddenly appeared at the table, piling things onto their plate (except Petunia who daintily picked at the food.) glaring heavily at Harry as he hung back near the kitchen sink with his head down.

"Back in your cupboar with you boy! And none of your freakishness either!", Vernon grunted.

"Yes, Uncle Vernon," Harry replied submissively, trudging back to his cupboard, his stomach twinging in pain. Oh how he wished to just run away, to be able to eat whatever and wherever he wanted. He didn't really consider these monsters family anyway. They left him hungry, they beat him whenever he didn't anything perfect they way the wanted (which was often). How was he, a nine year old child, supposed to live this way?

'They're the freaks!', Harry thought vehemently as he curled into a ball in his cupboard. He fell asleep, despite knowing if he did that before he was supposed to he would be beaten for it. When next he woke he found his cupboard pitch black. He pushed against the cupboard door, and was left surprised when it opened.

'Did they forget to lock it?', Harry thought hopefully. He slowly poked his head out of the cupboard. Seeing the hallway dark he exited his cupboard. He didn't notice any shadows moving so he moved quietly towards the kitchen. Hopefully he could sneak some food without his Aunt and Uncle knowing about it. He snuck into the kitchen and opening the cabinets he started taking small things that wouldn't be noticed right away, before moving towards the fridge. He opened it and took some slices of cheese and cold cuts. He closed the door of the fridge and holding everything in his oversized shirt, he moved back towards his cupboard to get another set of clothes (which made up his bed). putting everything inside the second shirt he pulled the corners of the shirt into a knot.

Harry took his makeshift bag and moved quickly and quietly towards the back door in the kitchen. As he was doing so he felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. Something wasn't right. It was too silent. Paranoia crept up on him, kept him looking behind him to make sure noone had snuck up on him. He opened the back door, wincing at the noise the handle made as he turned it. He stepped outside into the backyard closing the back door just as quietly as he opened it. The backyard was dark too. It was about eleven judging by the darkness of the sky. He took of at a slight jog, making sure his bare feet made barely any noise as he did.

Harry arrived at the park after several minutes, dropping to his knees to take large gulps of air. The Durselys certainly saw to it that he was fit and healthy, at least as much as a freak like him should be allowed. (which wasn't nearly enough in their opinion). Harry looked around him as he caught his breath. There was no wind, no sound. The hair on the back of his neck stood up again. Something was very, very wrong. The street lamps provided very little light. Harry watched as each light went out.

'Definitely something wrong', he thought worriedly. He saw a big hulking shadow move swiftly out of the corner of his right eye. He whirled to face it. Again he saw it move out of the corner of his eye, it was closer this time. He whirled again. He could hear its deep, heavy, growling, breaths as it stalked closer. He panicked and ran when he saw sickly yellow eyes glinting with madness suddenly appear in front of him. He could hear it chase him, drawing closer with every step he took. He cried out in pain as the shadow leaped and bit him in the shoulder. He felt rather than saw the shadow move away quickly, disappearing after several seconds. His shoulder was bleeding freely. His glasses lay cracked several feet ahead of him. He curled into a ball and whimpered as liquid fire rushed through his veins. The pain was alot worse than anything he'd ever felt before. He felt the fire in his veins change to a sharper stabbing pain that felt like thousands of needles suddenly shooting into him. As he blacked out from the pain he barely noticed a second change, turning the pain into a soothing wave of cold, with little jolts sporadically lancing through him every couple seconds.

He awoke sometime later feeling very, very hungry. The sky was lighter. He looked around him, noting that he was no longer in the park, but was in a forest. He could make out the veins in each leaf he looked at, when birds flitted past him he could see each feather with perfect clarity. Each sound was marginally louder than what he remembered them being. He sniffed the air, smelling pine trees and dirt and grass.

"Where am i?", his voice sounded not so high pitched as it usually did. He slowly got up, blinking when raven colored hair suddenly dropped into his field of vision. His hair was longer? What was going on? He finds himself in a forest with longer hair, and better vision? His bright, glowing green eyes took on a faraway look as he remembered what happened before he woke up again. He was attacked! His hand flashed up to his shoulder wear he could feel slight scars where whatever it was bit him. A sudden breeze flitted through the trees, and Harry shivered slightly. He then noticed he was no longer wearing any clothes.

"What the hell is this!?", he yelled, panic filling his voice. Why the hell wasn't he wearing anything?

"Oh my, what have we here?", a surprised voice spoke up behind him. Harry whirled around. Standing there in a plain white turtleneck shirt and blue jeans stood a woman with long, wavy brown hair, gentle brown eyes, a dainty nose, and full pink lips twitching into a smile. Harry covered himself, his cheeks flaming red in embarassment. He tried to stutter a reply, but managed a squeak.

"What on earth are you doing with no clothes on?", the woman smiled as Harry struggled to say something.

"I...uh...um...I-I don't k-know. I awoke like this", Harry managed to stutter a reply. He was looking down at the forest floor, trying to hide himself from her gaze. He nearly jumped when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"My name Jane Granger, how about you come back with me to get something to wear?", the woman introduced herself, tipping Harry's head up to look him in the eye. She nearly gasped as she saw his emerald green eyes suddenly show alot emotional pain.

"What is your name dear?", Jane asked him.

"Harry Potter", he replied.

"Well, its nice to meet you Harry. Lets go so we can get you some clothes", she said, putting Harry in front of her as she walked back out of the forest to her house. Harry would never forget this day, for its the first time he would meet someone just like him, someone who could do things no one else could explain. It would be the first time he met Hermione Granger, who would stand by his side for the rest of his life.


End file.
